Cyril Aris | |
|---|---|
 Aris in 2025 | |
| Occupation | Director |
| Years active | 2011–present |
| Notable work | A Sad and Beautiful World |
Cyril Aris is a Lebanese director. He has directed feature films like A Sad and Beautiful World, as well as feature documentaries such as Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano. [1]
Prior to working in film, Aris was a management consultant. He began working as a director with the mini-series, Beirut, I Love You, which aired from 2011–2012. In 2018, he premiered his first feature documentary, The Swing, at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and won several awards. [2]
Aris then worked on Mounia Akl's Costa Brava, Lebanon in 2021 and concurrently shot Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano, a documentary describing the process of shooting Akl's film amid the 2020 Beirut explosion. [3] His documentary was supported by the Sundance Institute, selected for competition at Karlovy Vary where it received a jury special mention, and showed in over 80 festivals around the world. [4]
Aris began writing the script for his debut feature, A Sad and Beautiful World, in 2019, based on his experiences of living in Lebanon for a few years; in it, Akl starred as the character Yasmina. [3] In 2025, it was entered into competition at the Red Sea International Film Festival and chosen as Lebanon's entry for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. [5] [2] It also won the Audience Award at the Venice Film Festival in addition to playing at other film festivals around the world. [4]